Demand for homes priced at $3 million or more has spiked 79 per cent between January and July of this year in Vancouver and 61 per cent in Toronto, both because of foreign investment – in particular from China.

“While there has been a lot of concern about foreign investors in Canada’s housing market, we’re seeing that the foreign buyers in our major luxury markets are living in their properties,” said Gurinder Sandhu, Executive Vice President, RE/MAX INTEGRA Ontario-Atlantic Canada Region in a statement.

There has been major concern over foreign investment in Vancouver’s real estate market and even prompted Mayor Gregor Robertson to propose a possible speculation tax on it back in May. That was quashed by Christy Clark, who said she was worried about housing prices dropping.

Data is limited on what percentage of foreign buyers make up Vancouver’s housing market, but the British Columbia Real Estate Association said in a report that they don’t make up more than 5 per cent of the overall market. The association recommended that the provincial government look into the issue so we can establish some firm numbers.

Around 77 per cent of Vancouverites support an absentee homeowner tax, according to an Insights West poll.

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Lauren Sundstrom Lauren is a Staff Writer and Projects Assistant at Vancity Buzz. She is a graduate of BCIT's Broadcast and Online Journalism program. She loves reporting on breaking news and lifestyle content. If you feel like you have a story that needs to be told, fire her a tweet.